Talbot 'regretted' giving money to government minister

Talbot had pleaded not guilty to allegedly paying the secret commissions.

ABC TV News - file image

Lawyers for late mining magnate Ken Talbot say he regretted giving money to former Queensland government minister Gordon Nuttall, but never expected anything in return.

Nuttall is serving a seven-year jail term for corruptly receiving $300,000 between 2002 and 2005.

Talbot had pleaded not guilty to allegedly paying the secret commissions and was due to face a District Court trial in August.

He was one of six mining executives killed in a plane crash in West Africa on the weekend.

The Crown will formally drop the case once a death notice is received.

Talbot's lawyer, Glenn Cranny, says his client felt aggrieved by the charges but was "supremely" confident he would be cleared.

"Ken was a generous person that he gave this money to assist Mr Nuttall's kids and he had never, ever, ever expected or thought or considered that he would get some form of benefit from Mr Nuttall or the government as a result," he said.

Lawyer Glenn Cranny says his client regretted giving the money but never expected anything in return.

"Ken was always entirely comfortable with his innocence and with his own conscience," he said.